Bangladesh tells UN it cannot take more Myanmar refugees

Foreign minister accuses Myanmar of 'hollow promises' over 700,000 Rohingya living in refugee camps in Bangladesh.

01 Mar 2019 02:34 GMT

The Balukhali camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, where Rohingya refugees have been living since they were forced to flee Myanmar in 2017 [File: Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters]

Bangladesh has told the United Nations Security Council it cannot take any more refugees from Myanmar, some 18 months after more than 700,000 Rohingya fled across the border amid a brutal military crackdown.

Attacks on security posts by Rohingya fighters in Myanmar's Rakhine state triggered the violence that the UN, the United States, Britain and others describe as ethnic cleansing. Myanmar denies the accusations.

"I regret to inform the council that Bangladesh would no longer be in a position to accommodate more people from Myanmar," Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque told the UN on Thursday.

Haque accused Myanmar of "hollow promises and various obstructionist approaches" during negotiations on returns.

"Not a single Rohingya has volunteered to return to Rakhine due to the absence of [a] conducive environment there," Haque said.

Myanmar says it has been ready to accept returning refugees since January, but the Rohingya say they want guarantees over their safety and to be recognised as citizens before they go back to Rakhine.

The UN says conditions are not yet right for their return. The Western powers on the council on Thursday lamented the lack of action from Myanmar's government.

'Very disappointed'

"We're very disappointed ... that there hasn't been more progress on getting the refugees back and that obviously includes creating the conditions where the refugees feel able to go back," Karen Pierce, Britain's UN Ambassador, told the council.

Several council members stressed the return of refugees needed to be safe, voluntary, dignified and secure, and pushed for the Myanmar government to allow the UN widespread and unconditional access to Rakhine.

UN envoy to Myanmar Christine Schraner-Burgener told the council that the UN access was currently "insufficient".

"The scale of what has been done to the Rohingya Muslims and the allegations of crimes against humanity really mark this out as one of the most terrible events of this century so far," she said.

The 15-member UNSC has been split over how to deal with the crisis, with Western powers pitted against Russia and China, an ally of Myanmar.

China's Deputy UN Ambassador Wu Haitao said it was mainly an issue between Myanmar and neighbouring Bangladesh "and as such it is up to the two countries to work out a solution".

Russia's Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy agreed.

In December, Britain circulated a draft resolution to council members that diplomats said aims to put a timeline on Myanmar allowing the return of refugees and addressing accountability, but China and Russia have boycotted talks on the draft.

Deputy US Ambassador Jonathan Cohen said: "The international community cannot ignore the world's largest refugee camp."